


Will You Be My Valentine?

by Peggysousfan



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/M, Love, Mystery, Pain, minor fluff, minor torture, peggysous, valentines day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:53:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22730542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peggysousfan/pseuds/Peggysousfan
Summary: New fic for Valentines Day!! It is mature and not all fluff.Peggy and Daniel get tangled in a case of a serial killer obsessed with the holiday. What will happen when their lovely relaxing day is interrupted if they’re kidnapped?
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa
Kudos: 9





	Will You Be My Valentine?

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbeted, so for any mistakes I do apologize. I will fix it when I can :)

Peggy’s POV:

It wasn’t suppose to be like this. We were supposed to have a nice dinner near the beach, go to the pier, then head home for the night. Maybe have a few drinks and fall asleep in each others arms- but that’s not at all how it went. As Daniel and I had left the restaurant for the night, we walked towards the beach, but then we noticed something strange; a young girl sitting by herself. The one girl we’ve been searching for, for nearly 3 weeks. But before we could confront her and ask questions, everything went black. The only thing I remembered last was the girl being knocked out and then a thud beside me- Daniel had been hit as well. I look frantically for the cause, only to find my world turn slipping away. It was suppose to be a calm and relaxing night, instead we’re now trapped in a basement by a deranged serial killer. Perfect. Because being chained to a brick wall is exactly what we had in mind for Valentines Day.

(3 weeks earlier)

“Chief? Carter? We got something you both need to see.” Bloody hell. When a case involves the need for both Daniel and I to look at, we know its not good.

We follow Agent Caldwell to his desk as he opens the file with gruesome photos. I’ve never seen anything like these. It takes all the courage I can muster not to sob. Daniel looks away and steps back, and I know he’s thinking the same thing I am…This person is a monster.

A woman lays nude on the ground with her body carved with hearts. On her back side is a message, ‘Will you bee my Valentine?’ Iv'e never seen anything like this. I look over at Daniel who has his hand on his head, lost in the same thoughts I am. How could anyone do this? It’s inhuman.

“There’s more.” Caldwell says grimly. “The woman, who we’ve ID’d as Lucile Warren… she’s was married and had two kids. But the thing is…her daughter is missing. She was last seen near the house before her mother’s body…appeared.”

“How old is the daughter?” Daniel finally speaks, but he doesn’t look up.

“Uh, about 14 years old. Name is Shelly Warren. Chief-”

“We gotta find her.” Daniel starts walking to his office but I grab his hand and he stops. But before I can say anything, the agent speaks again.

“There is something else. Something that the LAPD can’t explain.” Daniel sighs and I can’t help but do the same. This is madness. “There is this, well, uh, I’m not really sure how to describe it. There was a glowing red liquid oozing from the victims mouth and eyes.”

“That explains why they asked for the SSR’s help.” I state not knowing where to look.

“Not only that, but there have been at least 2 different cases of woman with death’s similar to this. But we have no idea what this compound is. The LAPD gave us some samples and they’re already being analyzed by the lab boys right now. But I don’t think we’ll have too much luck.”

“Do we think it was this substance that killed them or who ever did that.” I close my eyes as I look back at the photographs. That poor woman. This killer has no soul whatsoever.

“We don’t know for sure. The body is being transferred for an examination like the others were to determine the cause of death.”

“Good. The sooner we know the cause of death, the better.” I glance at Daniel but he continues to look down at the ground and away from everyone.

All he does is nod and dismisses us, then walks into his office; but at an unusually slow pace. What could be bothering him? Did he know this woman? Surely not, I would have known about her. Why is he so upset? I follow him and knock lightly on his office door.. He doesn’t answer so I walk in and shut it behind me.

“Daniel? Love, are you alright?” He doesn’t respond, instead he sighs and leans back in his chair.

For a few moments the room is filled with an endless silence; one that feels as if its suffocating the breath from my lungs. After a while he opens his arms and I instantly know what it means, so, I get off of the desk and sit on his lap. One arm drapes over his shoulders and the other rests on his cheek. I kiss his head lightly while he holds me closer against him by my waist. He lets out a long deep breath and places his head on my chest. Oh my love. I card my fingers through his hair, and he starts to relax.

“Better?” I ask gently. He nods and reaches up for a kiss; and I’m more than happy to oblige him.

I know we shouldn’t do this here, especially with everyone in the office while the blinds are open; but I don’t care. Daniel needs something to ground him, and I plan to do just that. For several minutes he leans on me, absorbing any comfort he can. I card my fingers through his hair and he moans and wraps his arms around my waist. With one small kiss to his head, he finally looks up at me; and all I can see is despair.

“Darling…,” I start to say, but stop when he glances away and turns his gaze to window. “Can you tell me what’s bothering you so much?” He takes a deep breath and opens his lips, but shuts them and shakes his head. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I only want to help.”

“I know.” Daniel looks at me again and his eyes hold un-shed tears. “Its just- I-” He groans and runs a hand over his face. I’ve never seen him in such a state before, even after my arrest for helping Howard. “This case…hits too close to home for me.”

“What?” I look at him curiously and wonder what he could possibly mean. Surely he’s never seen this sort of thing before.

“Its just, I lost my mom when I was a kid. She wasn’t…killed like that, but she was killed.” A small gasps escapes my throat at this. I take his hand in mine and tighten my grip; giving what small comfort I can. “I saw it happen, just like this kid did. But Peg… what she saw must have been a hell of a lot worse.”

“We’’ll find her. I promise.” He nods and leans in, and I happily return the favor. My left hand stays in his hair, only slightly getting caught on the ring. “And when we find her we will find this man and make him pay for what he’s done. She will get justice, no matter what.”

“Good.” For the first time this morning he smiles a real smile, then it turns into something more playful. “Then after all this is over…We can start planning.” At first I was unsure what he meant, but then he takes my hand in his and I instant understand.

“The sooner the better.”

(Back to present)

As we sit here in the dark, with the only light being a red glare from above, we wait for the man who captured us. He separated Daniel and I. We’re both on opposite sides of the basement and I can’t reach out to him. Not only that both of my hands are bound by cuffs and a chain that’s tethered to the wall behind me. He took Daniel’s crutch and prosthetic, so its difficult for him to walk. And worst of all is I don’t see the Shelly either.

For hours we have been here, waiting; and yet nothing has happened. My head is pounding and my wrist burn from fighting against the restraints. They’ve turned an angry red from the look of it. I take another glance at Daniel and he begins to stir awake- Thank God.

“Daniel.” I whisper. He must not have heard me so I call out to him again. “Daniel.”

He grumbles and moans before lifting his head up and looking around the room. Once realization dawns on him, he panics.

“What the- Peg? Are you okay? Are you hurt??”

“No, I’m alright. You?” He groans quietly and nods, looking at our surroundings. If only I knew exactly where were are, or how long we’ve been here.

But as we look and pull against our restraints, we realize we can’t get out of this. Not now at least. The only good thing that has happened all week is finding the Shelly. She ran away once she saw her mother attacked, but it didn’t stop the killer from noticing the young girl in the house. Thankfully she escaped before he caught her, but not for too long. What has he done with her? Where is she?

“Peg, what’s wrong?”

“Where’s Shelly Warren?” At this Daniel i s hit with the memories of what happened before we got here; we just found the girl.

“Oh shit!” He looks around just as I had done, but realizes she’s not here with us. “What the hell did that ass hat do with her?”

“I-I don’t know. She wasn’t here when I woke up.”

“Dammit.” He mumbles.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in such a panic since I was impaled on the rebar during the Roxxon investigation. Which makes sense of course, Daniel has nieces and nephews, he’s always been protective of children- even to those that weren’t his kin.

We need to figure a way out of this and find her before anything happens. Rose knows Daniel and I come in every morning at 8, if we’re later than 10 then she knows to be worried. Seeing as we’ve had…well several hours to ourselves in the mornings, she’s grown use to our late arrival at times. But it doesn’t happen often and she knows we would call in if something came up.

As I start to think everything over, the door at the end of the room opens, and in walks a tall, light skinned man. Not very muscular but not slender either. Broad shoulders and dark hair from the look of it. But seeing as the lighting is horrible, its hard to get a good look. He walks towards me with a confident stride and stops with a dark smile. His face is uncovered but I don’t recognize it, and yet I know exactly who he is. This is the killer we’ve been searching for. He reaches out to me and wipes the strands of hair I have out of my face. With great difficulty I try to move away, but its useless. He bends to to eye level and brushes against my neck.

“So pretty..” He mutters. I cold chill runs down my spine and I fear what he’s thinking.

“Don’t you dare touch her!” Daniel yells, and its enough to get the killers attention. He looks over at Daniel and stomps his way. A whimper leaves my throat as I twist and pull at the chains; but its no use. He ties a cloth around Daniel’s mouth to keep him quiet, but before he walks away he drives a hard kick to his side. Oh my darling….

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I shout.

“What can I say? I love love.” I grimace at this and look at Daniel, his expression can only be described as dripping with disdain. As I’m distracted by him I don’t notice the killer riding his hand up my thigh. I kick at him but he grabs at my foot.

“Don’t fight me.” He barks.

“Or what? Hm? You’ll kill me? I’d like to see you try.” I spew through gritted teeth. He must not have expected such a confident response because he steps back and stares at me.

“You think you can escape? Avoid my affection? You’re wrong. No one can resist me.” At this I can’t help but laugh. He glares down at me but I simply can’t help it.

“Can’t resist your affection?” The laughter in my throat dies down and turns into that of a chuckle. “Oh please. The only man who’s affection I enjoy is sitting across this very room. I’m not avoiding yours, you mad man. I will never enjoy it, nor will anyone else. You’re insane.”

He bends down to my level and grasp my face in his hand roughly, so rough I’m sure it will leave red marks. Daniel shouts but I can’t make out the words through his cloth.

“Lucile Warren thought the same thing…so did Sarah Harper and Mildred Pierce.” This man is insane enough to remember his victims. What is this, some sort of fantasy? “Now you…Margaret, will know the same.”

“How the hell do you know my name!?” His laugh is deep and bellows throughout the basement, one that drives terrible shivers down my spine.

“You think you’re the only one who’s been running their own investigation? You’re not.”

Daniel struggles against his restraints as the man walks closer to me. All I remember from this moment was a sting in my neck, then everything goes black.

(Flashback)

There in the light of the early morning the sun rays sneak past the curtains and brighten the room. My eyes flutter open only to shut immediately at the brightness. With a grumble I toss over and bump into my bed mate. My love. He’s still sound asleep, so peaceful and quiet. Daniel’s hardly ever not stressed, the only way I can see him so relaxed is at home or while he sleeps. I reach out to him, my left hand grazing his head as I brush away a stray curl.

It wasn’t until 3 months into our relationship that I noticed how free and curly his hair was. He finally stopped putting product in it and let it be natural when we were alone; and to be perfectly honest, I prefer it this way. Although it took time for our walls to fall, I’m more happy now that they have than when they were up. I’ve never been this close or open with anyone, not even my brother or Isabel knew half of the things I’ve confessed to Daniel. This man has been my support in everything, even when I drive him mad. He loves me for who I am, and I couldn’t imagine a better partner.

As I’m lost in thought I hadn’t noticed him stir. It wasn’t until his arms wrap around my shoulders that I knew he was awake.

“Bom dia amor, Da minha vida.” I can’t keep the smile that pulls at my lips away. He always awakens and says the sappiest things. And although I would never admit it to anyone else, I do love it.

“Bom Dia meu querido,” Daniel pulls me closer and I let him. I curl into his side and reach up to meet him with a kiss. “Happy Valentines Day.”

As if a light has gone off in his mind, he smiles and laughs and kisses me abruptly.

“Happy Valentines day, Peg.”

For the years in which I’ve known Daniel, it wasn’t until we were together that he started to speak in his mother tongue. Throughout the years he has been teaching me words and phrases. its as if its our own language to disguise our conversations and whispers. No one I know besides Daniel and his family speak Portuguese, which makes our messages to one another all the more intimate.

Daniel takes my hand in his and fiddles with the golden band that lays on it. Its been 6 weeks since Daniel proposed. 6 weeks to start planning the rest of our lives in which we no longer live in sin or scandal. He takes my hand and brings it to his lips for a gentle kiss.

“When did we agree on a wedding date?”

I chuckle and move to lay on top of him. “In 4 months. In November.” As I look down at him he smiles and stretches for another kiss, so I lean down and return his ask.

“It can’t come soon enough.” My lips turn up into another smile as I lay down to listen to his beating heart. I feel more than hear him sigh. “We have to go to work.”

“Mm Don’t remind me,” I grumble. Daniel chuckles and moves me with him. “We have to find the girl…catch her mother’s killer.”

And suddenly the room is silent, and uncomfortably so.

“Yeah we do.” His voice is strained. “But we have to find out what that red substance is.”

“We could ask Howard to analyze it. There’s no one I know smarter and capable of finding out what it is.”

He nods in agreement and we get out of bed. Seeing as we can’t make plans to stay home and have a case to solve, I call Rose to let her know we’ll be in later then normal. Once showered and dressed, we leave for Howard’s penthouse. I look over at Daniel and notice how tense he is, so, I reach over and place my hand on his knee. With a glance he smiles and takes i his in mine, then brings it to his lips for a soft kiss.

“I love you, Peg.”

“I love you too, darling.”

We ride the rest of the way in silence until we reach our destination. Daniel squeezes my hand before releasing it and we head inside. Once we do Jarvis startles from our presence.

“Good heavens! Miss Carter. Chief Sousa. I had no idea you were dropping by this morning.”

“Yes,w ell, we came to see Howard, actually. Do you know where he might be at the moment.” Jarvis rolls his eyes subtly and sighs.

“Mr. Stark is currently in the lab, rather in a state of sully I would say.” Daniel scoffs and shakes his head.

“Why’s that?”

“I’m afraid Mr. Stark’s production assistance has left the industry. And his, shall we say, heart.”

“Oh for Pete’s sake!” I exclaim and storm towards the lab. “Howard, what in the bloody blue blazes are you-”

“Peg? What the hell! This is a private space.”

He stands there, in no pants, with a glass of bourbon. Luckily he has on bloomers and a shirt. Ugh, this man.

“Howard its a lab. One that you use for everyone to waltz in and use.” I saw with averted eyes. “Now can you please put on some trousers and come upstairs? Daniel and I need your help with something.”

He asks with what, but I ignore him and walk away. This man will drive me completely mad as a loony bird one day. When I get upstairs I walk over to Daniel, sit on the couch, and rest my head on his shoulder, telling him Howard’s on his way.

“What’d he do this time?” He asks with an exaggerated sigh. I chuckle into his neck and shake my head.

“He’s just Howard.” He laughs as if in immediate understanding, then we wait. For what seems like forever, he finally arrives and sits down in front of us; asking what he can help with.

“We need this analyzed and to know exactly what it is and what it does.”

“What is it?” he asks, reaching for the bile of glowing red liquid.

“Well if we knew then we wouldn’t ask.” I retort, which causes him to roll his eyes.

“Fine. I’ll check it out. Jarvis!” He calls out, giving him a laundry list of things to do; poor man.

Hours pass and still no word from Stark. All this time talking with Ana, or helping Jarvis with Bernard, has been dragging on and I’m starting to loose interest. I just want to go home. I do love our friends dearly, but I simply want to plan this wedding, catch this killer, and relax.

Eventually Howard comes back, but with a grim expression.

“I have no idea what the hell this thing is. All I could get is its got properties of hallucinogens, Benzodiazepines, and chloroform.”

“What?” Daniel and I get up and walk over to him.

“It causes hallucinations and black outs. But what else? I have no idea. There are lot of components in this thing that’ll take forever to pull apart and figure out what each one does.”

I can’t help the groan that escapes my throat a I rub my hands over my face. All we have is a drug that knocks people unconscious, perfect. We don’t know if that’s all its meant to do or more. If its as complex as Howard says it is, it may be more dangerous than a sleeping drug. And it seems I’m not the only one getting frustrated. Daniel is stiff and all around unhappy. This case has hit something personal to him; close to home in a way. I had no idea his mother was killed, and now we have to solve a case in which a young girl witnessed her own mother’s murder.

“Thank you, Howard, for discovering what you could. Its something to go off of at least.” I say with false hope. Howard falls for it, but I don’t think Daniel had.

As we walk outside and head towards the car, I take his hand in mine. He stops to take a deep breath as he fiddles with my ring. It glistens in the sun, almost as brightly as the smile that hides behind his upset state.

“We’ll catch him. I know we will.”

“I know.” He attempted a smile but its not one of this that catches my breath or stops time. Its not his normal or confident ones; its one in which he’s trying to hide his doubt.

“Why don’t we go out tonight. Have dinner and walk along the beach. It is Valentines Day after all.”

Reluctantly he nods and rives to a restaurant along the beach. It seems like our day has flipped upside down into a calm and collected night. Everything was just as it was this morning- blissfully perfect. That is until we walk towards the beach and find Shelly Warren by herself…

(End Flashback)

Daniel’s POV:

Its been hours since that deranged psycho path took Peggy. I knew the second he stood back when she retorted against him that it would be bad, but never like this. I saw him reach for the syringe in his pocket. I saw the glowing red beaming from behind him, but Peggy couldn’t see it from where she was. I yelled for her attention, fought against the chains to warn her, anything I could, but it was no use. He injected it into her neck and immediately she fell over. I rub the cloth on my shoulder, making it fall out of my mouth.

I wasn’t sure what he was going to do to her when he unchained her and dragged her limp body from the room. It wasn’t until I heard the screams that my heart shattered. Its not a piecing I’m dying scream, but it is one that tells him she is in agonizing pain. Peggy…my fiance. The woman who’s going to be my wife is in pain and there’s nothing I can do about it.

“Dammit!”

My yell echoes through this dungeon of a basement, but that is the only sound left. Peggy’s screams stop and my blood runs cold. Something’s wrong. I pull harder and harder, trying to break though, but the chains don’t give in. Hold on Peg, please be okay! With all the noise from fighting against the restraints, it caught the attention of the killer. Slowly he walks back downstairs, but he’s not empty-handed. What the hell is that? I look around for something, anything, to help me fight him off, but there’s nothing here.

“Listen up, crip, I’m gonna need you to keep quiet.” He says once he’s in close range.

Is that a a whip with barbed wire? What the hell! And my prosthetic? What is this psycho up to?

“Hmm, I see you keeping an eye on this.” He moves my leg around to emphasize it. “But I’m not giving it back to you. Or her. So you either keep your mouth shut, or this is gonna be your head!”

He takes the prosthetic and drops it on the ground, but before I can react, he beats it to shreds with the wires whip. Metal and wood pokes out in all different directions, causing one hell of a mess. I don’t even want to know what that’ll do to human flash… I feel a dry gulp race down my throat as I look up at this soulless monster; a man condemned to hell the day he was born.

He pulls back the whip and and shrink back into the wall, trying to cover what I can. But rather than being ripped apart, all I feel is the cold bricks. I look up and see him laughing as if this is some sort of comedy.

“I don’t know what it is she sees in you, but I’ll knock it out of her.” He steps closer and grips the front of my hair in his hands, causing my head to sting. “How any woman can fully commit herself to a lowlife gimp is beyond me. But I’ll soon show her what a real man is. Then she’ll see you for what you are- Broken.”

I clench my jaw as he thrust my head back into the wall. Damn that hurt! He walks away with more sway and all I can think about is what he’s going to do to her. I swear if the SSR hasn’t noticed we’re missing by now, they’re all fired!

Peggy’s POV:

A pounding split in my head is not what I want to feel when I wake up from blacking out; but I suppose its better than what’s next. As I groan and shake my head from the spinning of the room, a cold splash of water covers me from head-to-toe. With a squeak and drenching cold body, I’m wide awake. Frantically, I look around me and notice I’m in a completely different room, and no Daniel in sight. Oh no…

“Well, well, well. Look who’s up and ready for the day.”

What? I turn to the voice and find the killer to my left, and something strange in his hand…a box of damn chocolate in one hand and a knife in the other. What the hell is this man thinking?

“I see you’re interested in this. Well we’ll get right to that in a minute, but first….I want you to choose.” My jaw clenches tight as I glare at the man before me. “Mm, just as I thought. Stubborn. Well how about I make the choice for you?” His tone is gentle but his intentions are nefarious.

He places the items on the table in front of me and points at them back and forth, as if a small game of choosing. The pain in my head hasn’t stopped and a groan escapes my throat. He turns to me with a menacing smile and grabs the knife.

“How about we start here.” That smile does nothing but make me ill. I don’t say anything, in fear of what he’ll do, so I keep my lips sealed.

He walks towards me and I try to wiggle away, but then I realize I’m strapped to a chair. Bloody hell! He grabs my shoulder roughly and forces me to face him. As I focus on his menacing eyes, I wasn’t paying any mind to his hands; in particularly a hand. One that grabs the knife and pierces my skin. At first its just a sting and I’m able to with hold and sound, until he carves deeper in my shoulder and I release a scream. I have no idea what it is he’s tearing into my skin, all I know is the blade gives an intense and excruciating pain. I can feel blood trickling down my back as he pulls away. My body starts to shake as a response, but I try to fight it and calm my nerves. I can only imagine how much worse this will get.

“Open wide.” He laughs while reaching for the box. NO! I shakes my head and refuse, biting down my lips to keep them sealed. I won’t eat it. “Come on, sugar. Something as sweet as you are.” What the hell is wrong with this man? He’s deluded!

“Go. To. HELL!” I demand through clenched teeth, but all he does is laugh.

“That’d only be true if were real, sweetheart. But there is no Heaven and Hell.” Well I know he hasn’t been to church.

Church… Daniel. God I hope we get out of here. This will be a serious problem for me to tell my parents they can’t come to America because we had to postpone the bloody wedding. Ugh! We should have just eloped the day he proposed. That would have been much easier. With a groan I tighten my left hand, the only way I can feel the engagement ring. It seemed so close, now it seems far away.

“Hm… I guess I can take that.” I open my eyes and find him reaching for my hand, quickly taking off the ring. No! He tosses it across the room and reaches for the box again. “Now eat. Come on, you know you want something after that… pick me up. ”

“You drugged me.”

“I’d like to call it plausible persuasion.” I turn away as he advances toward me, trying to force one of the sweets in my mouth.

I keep whipping away and turning, but he grabs my face forcefully, just as before, only his time pinching my lips and prying them open. I whimper and groan, trying to pull away, but he pops on in and shuts my mouth closed. Normally I would enjoy a nice sweet chocolate bite, but now its just dreadful. He whispers in my ear and presses against me while tilting me head back, forcing it down my throat. Once its down he lets go and I go into a coughing fit. I could have choked, arse.

“See? Its good right?”

It taste like any other Valentine chocolate, and since I say nothing, he grabs another. No, I won’t! I bite down on my lip, but he uses the same strategy and I down another one. I hate this. I will never eat a box of sweets for this holiday ever again. He pulls away once more and watches me closely. At first I’m unsure why, until the room begins to spin. Oh no…

“I think you would like one more.”

With a quick shake of the head, try to snap out of it,but my stomach churns and my body heats up. Has it always been this hot in here? As I’m distracted he does it again, but this time I bite down on his fingers. 

“OW!! God Dammit!” He shakes it as he pulls away, but laughs menacingly. “You really are feisty aren’t you.”

Unstrap me from the damn chair and I’ll show you what a real spitfire I really am. But unfortunately those words never leave my mouth. I feel the sweat beading and trickling down all over. Someone turn down the bloody heat! Everything feels numb and burns all at once. Why do I feel nauseous? Is the room getting darker? Wh-what’s happening?

“Don’t worry, sugar. I’ve got you….”

Daniel’s POV:

Its been over an hour since that maniac left. Over an hour I’ve been pulling at these damn chains trying to find a way out of this. My writs are torn raw from fighting against the restraints. I know it should hurt, but its nothing compared to not knowing what the hell happened to Peggy. As if my mind was read, the killer walks into the room; and he’s not alone. He has her with him, and she’s as pale as a ghost and dripping in sweat.

“What the hell did you do?!?!” I yell, my voice echoing through the basement. He just snickers and tosses her aside, and she doesn’t get back up. “Peggy! Peg wake up!” But she doesn’t.

That’s when I notice the blood running through her shirt on her back.

“You know, this woman is a real stubborn piece of work.” Now its my turn to snicker. As if I don’t know my own fiance. “I gotta admit she’s really faithful to you. Even relied on that poor excuse of an engagement ring to give her hope and thought of you. But that was easily taken care of.”

My breathing gets uneven as I look back and forth from Peggy to this deranged psycho. She’s still breathing, but just barely. He notice my glance towards her and laughs.

“Oh she’s just fine, aren’t you sweetheart.”

But she doesn’t respond or move. He bends down beside her and sits her up, but she doesn’t have enough strength to stay that way, so she collapses against him; and not willingly. He pulls out a knife and rips her blouse’s sleeve off, then digs the edge into her arm.

“Stop! That’s enough!!"But he just smiles and moves the blade around in a heart shape. Is that what’s on her back?

"She’s a real looker, I’ll say that.” He stops carving and looks up at me. “How did you land this dame on your arm? I mean she’s way out of your league. Just look at her. She’s-”

“SSR! Put the weapon down NOW!”

The killer freezes in shock and stands abruptly, causing Peggy to fall and lay down on the ground. Jack, Rose, and several other agents stand by the busted door, Shelly Warren in behind them all. He must have kept her somewhere we couldn’t see her.

“Put don the knife. Now!” Jack yells, grabbing the killers attention. “Malcolm Porter, you’re under arrest.”

So the killer has a name, good to know. Rose and Agent Simone apprehend the psycho and put him in cuffs. But what I didn’t expect was Stark to rush in. When he does he notices Peggy and orders a bunch of people to help him then unchain me.

“Howard, what-”

“Was she injected with the red liquid?”

“Yeah, he-”

“When??” Okay, Stark plus worry is never a good thing. Two agents come behind me and break the chains, freeing my hands.

“On hour ago, maybe longer. No more the 2. I know that much.”

“Okay, we still have time, Hey! Bring me that! Get the paramedics!” He’s in full panic and takes off his jacket, using it as support for her head. Seeing as I don’t have my leg I have to hobble over with the support of Simone.

“Stark what the hell is going on!?”

“That damn substance…its lanced with Mercury."He sighs and stands once the medics grab her and wheel here away. "They have to get it out of her system. Its not enough to kill her right away, but enough to make her severely sick.”

“What about the other stuff?”

“There’s only enough to knock a person unconscious, not enough to over dose and kill them, but it also depends on how much he injected her with.” We walk, well I struggle, outside and stop on the front porch steps.

“Uh, it was half a syringe.”

“Okay, not too bad.” Now that I actually look at him, he looks exhausted.

“What the hell happened to you? Get hit by a bus?” He turns to me and starts laughing.

“Can always count on you with the humor, Danny-boy.” He looks at me then looks like a light bulb shines over his head with an idea. “Almost forgot, here.”

I look over at him and see what I never thought I would be so happy to see; a leg. More importantly, my prosthetic. And my crutch. Now I can actually walk on my own. I sit down on the steps and put it on, then go to the van where the medics have Peggy.

“She’ll be fine. It looks like we got here just in time.” He pats a hand on my shoulder, then puts them in his pockets and starts walking away. Typical Stark.

“Hey!” He stops and turns towards me. “Thanks, Howard.”

He does his half smirk then walks to his car,so, I go in the direction of the ambulance and ride in the back to the hospital with Peggy. God I hope she’s okay.

It isn’t until hours late after getting everything out of her body and she wakes up, that I can finally breath a real breath.

“Peg.” She looks around for a minute before looking at me.

“Daniel.” She croaks with a smile. That smile that always takes my breath away, exhausted or not. She tries to sit up, but hisses from the pain in her arm and shoulder.

“Hey, easy. Just relax. I’m not going anywhere.” She chuckles and reaches for my hand, and I’m more than happy to reach out and take her hand in mine. I intertwine her fingers.

It isn’t until everything is quiet until my mind starts to wonder at what that Porter guy said. Why would she want someone like me? Maybe she is too far out of my league…

“Daniel!” She laughs. I jump and look at her, and she’s completely amused. “Where’s your mind?”

“Uh..nowhere. Just wondering about you.”

“Hey,” She squeezes my hand, making me look at her. “I love you, you know. What he said….it isn’t true. You’re mine and I’m yours.”

“Wait, you heard that?” She hums and moves her head back and forth, an has that smirk on her face. But then it turns serious.

“Only parts. I wasn’t really…perceptive in the moment.” I look down an nod. I don’t really know what to say. “Daniel. Look at me.”

Dammit, I know that tone. I do as I’m told and see the softest look I’ve ever seen on her. “I love YOU. You, Daniel. I could never love anyone else nearly as much. You are my partner and my heart. I thought I drilled that in your mind the day I agreed to marry you.”

“And I’m so glad you did.”

I lean over her bed and press my lips to hers, fitting perfectly like puzzle. When we pull apart it seems like everything is as it should be.


End file.
